Wall Street’s Finest revealed today what they think investors should do with
Blackstone stock. Seven different banks rate Blackstone’s equity, and six of
the seven rate it a "buy" (or "outperform" or "overweight").
One of the banks rates it a hold. By
an astonishing coincidence, the six banks with a "buy" rating
are the six of the seven who were also underwriters on the IPO. And the seventh,
with a "hold", is the only one which didn’t have a lead role in the
IPO.
Sell-side equity ratings are a joke. If you really want to use them as a source
of investment ideas and intelligence, fine. But the headline buy/outperform/overweight
ratings are – always – best ignored.